Monday, September 19, 2011

Dancing With The Stars and The Natural Law


Leticia of My Daily Trek recently posted on Chastity-Chaz Bono, a transgender individual, who will be a contestant on "Dancing With The Stars". I don't usually watch "Dancing With The Stars" but Leticia emphasized that she was concerned that children who watch this show may be negatively influenced by seeing a transgender individual dancing with her/his partner while being portrayed as being "normal". Being either a pre-teen or a teenager with all the peer pressure can be very confusing as it is and when you throw into the mix seeing a transgender individual being portrayed as "normal" this may confuse them sexually even more. Dr. Keith Ablow reccommends to parents that their kids avoid watching the shows of Dancing With The Stars which have Chastity-Chaz Bono as a contestant on the show. I agree with him. A commenter on Leticia's article didn't know what natural law is and requested an explanation as to what natural law is so I said that I would do a post.


The natural law is a moral and legal theory. In its current form it dates back to St. Thomas Aquinas but its roots are in ancient Greece. Here are two definitions of natural law:

From The Free Dictionary - A law or body of laws that derives from nature and is believed to be binding upon human actions apart from or in conjunction with laws established by human authority.

From Wkipedia - A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.

We must begin with a certain premise that natural things, especially living things, are not mere random physical processes. The behavior of living matter is not random. Biological activity at every level is purposeful. Cells, organs, systems, and organisms all act for a purpose. Everything has a job. The heart pumps blood throughout our bodies, flowers grow from seeds, and babies develop from crawling to standing to walking. These are all acting towards an end rather than behaving randomly.

When antibodies kill viruses and bacteria they are doing their job, (fulfilling what is a good end. its proper end ) Because antibodies are fulfilling its natural job duties it achieves a good end which is consistent with the natural law. We can inherently know what end goes with this or that and what doesn't. Biological phenomena manifest teleological behavior, meaning everything that happens in living things happens for a purpose. Living matter grows, develops, and heals, i.e., it acts purposefully in accordance with its nature. Living organisms are like artifacts: they are made for a purpose. A book's proper use is to be read. That is in accordance with natural law. But if a person would burn a book that would not be in accordance with the natural law.

Rational beings can participate in their acting toward their natural end, or freely choose not to do that. That is the essence of moral choice.

God created human beings to procreate naturally. It is only possible for a man and woman to procreate naturally. God is omniscient and creates each man and woman in his own image and likeness so therefore it is impossible for God to make a mistake with regards to an individual's gender. When an infertile couple has trouble procreating that is because an impediment causes an interruption in the natural process. The fact that it is impossible for a homosexual couple to procreate naturally is natural or in accordance with the natural law. It is impossible for homosexuals and transgender individuals to achieve that good end.

Would you dispute that your mouth is for food? That to survive a person must eat? Why should your mouth and feeding yourself be considered according to natural law? A baby may put an object up to his/her mouth but it wouldn't be for his good for the baby to swallow that object. A male homosexual couple has two penises, right? Can a penis and penis come into union with one another and create a human life? If you look at this in a logical fashion it is obvious how this violates the natural law. It is not within the natural order for homosexuals and transgenders to take chemicals and mutilate their bodies to transform themselves in order to assume a sexual identity that is the polar opposite of the one with which they were created.

Cross-posted @ Catholibertarian 

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